Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
Applications close for this 4-year postdoc on Feb 9th (2 days!). The associated post for a technician should be online next week 👀
🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
Interesting paper for a Sunday night read by @arthurmatte.bsky.social et al.
‘The #evolution of cheaper workers facilitated larger societies and accelerated diversification in #ants ‘
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Congrats @arthurmatte.bsky.social @economo.bsky.social ! arstechnica.com/science/2025...
New paper in Science Advances!
Ants traded strength for numbers, and it worked 🐜
Our study comparing 500+ ant species shows how the evolution of cheaper workers fueled bigger colonies and faster diversification, shaping ants’ rise across the planet.
🔗To read here: doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx8068
Analysis of the DNA and proteins of a range of animals has revealed that sperm’s molecular toolkit arose in our single-celled ancestors, perhaps more than a billion years ago
Congrats @selfishmeme.bsky.social on revealing such a beautiful and bizarre system!
Surely one of the all-time best conference outreach activities: an evolution-inspired decorated street for Les Festes de Gràcia #ESEB2025
@arthurmatte.bsky.social describes the molecular evolution during the rise of #socialfluids #ESEB2025 @socialtransfernet.bsky.social @socialfluids.bsky.social
Do you use Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) genomes for your work or grant applications? If so, can you please fill out this form? docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... We are gathering info on how DToL genomes are used. It will help us raise money to continue producing publicly available high-quality genomes.
Fantastic piece (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) by @tlinksvayer.bsky.social on @arthurmatte.bsky.social and my recent paper in PNAS (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...). He really pulls together the threads of how we believe that socially transferred materials #socialfluids entrenched social complexity in ants. 1/2
New paper out ✍️ in @commsbio.bsky.social: Diversification and extinction of Hemiptera in deep time
with my friends Mathieu Boderau and André Nel
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
@isyeb.mnhn.fr
@isyebsp.mnhn.fr
@morethanadodo.bsky.social
A little summary of @arthurmatte.bsky.social and my recent paper 🐜🍼👶 www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/news/how-ant...
9/ Huge thanks to @adriatica.bsky.social for her guidance and to all the friends whose invaluable discussions shaped this paper! 🙌
And a special shoutout to François Brassard for the stunning photos. 📸
So excited to see my Master’s research published! 🎉🐜
8/ Our study provides a macroevolutionary perspective on caste determination, offering insights into how ants became the ecological engineers we know today.
📖 Read the full study in @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas....
Need access? Reach out, and we’ll be happy to send you the full text!
7/ Take-home message:
The evolution of strong caste differences and complex ant societies wasn’t just about colony size or genetics—it was about who fed the larvae and how! 🍽️👶
6/ This shift in developmental control mirrors key transitions in evolution, such as the emergence of multicellular life, where individual cells lost autonomy to function as part of a larger organism! 🤯 🐜🐜🐜=🦠🦠🦠
5/ Our causal models suggest:
🔹 More controlled feeding of larvae = More morphological specialization
🔹 Adult-controlled feeding enabled extreme caste differences, which in turn reinforced colony-level social complexity.
4/ Why does larval feeding matter?
Larvae are inherently *unruly*, trying to secure as much food as possible from the colony. By taking full control of larval nutrition, adult ants were able to sculpt extreme queen-worker differences, fueling higher social complexity.
3/Using comparative phylogenetic methods, we identified a major evolutionary shift:
The transition from self-feeding larvae to passive larvae receiving processed food from adults facilitated greater queen-worker differentiation, larger colonies, and increased social complexity. 🎯
2/ We digitized larval morphology for 700+ ant species, measured caste dimorphism in nearly 400 species, and compiled data on diets, larval feeding behaviors, and social traits across ant diversity.
1/ Ant colonies function as superorganisms—queens reproduce while workers handle all other tasks. But why do some ant species have highly specialized castes, while others have queens and workers that look nearly identical? 🤔 We figured that the key had to be in larvae!
🚨 New Paper Alert! 🚨
🐜 How did ants evolve their highly specialized queens and workers?
With @adriatica.bsky.social, we reveal a key evolutionary innovation: adult control over larval feeding unlocked extreme caste dimorphism and complex societies. 🧵👇
🔗 Read in @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
